Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

People
on the Move

N° 106, April 2008

STATEMENT at the
Vienna Forum

to Fight Human
Trafficking

(13th-15th February 2008)

Archbishop
Agostino Marchetto

Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the

Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

Mr.
Chairman,

1. The
Holy See appreciates the efforts undertaken at various levels to combat
human trafficking, which is a multidimensional problem, and one of the
most shameful phenomena of our era. In fact, trafficking in human beings
is a dreadful offence against human dignity, which the social doctrine
of the Catholic Church regards as the foundation of human rights. It is
well-known that poverty, as well as the lack of opportunities and of
social cohesion, push people to look for a better future despite the
related risks, making them extremely vulnerable to trafficking.
Moreover, it should be emphasized that, nowadays, several factors
contribute to the spread of this crime, namely, the absence of specific
rules in some countries, the victims’ ignorance of their own rights, the
socio-cultural structure and armed conflicts.

The Holy
See encourages all kinds of just initiatives aimed at eradicating this
immoral and criminal phenomenon and at promoting the welfare of the
victims. The Palermo Protocol and the successive regional Conventions
have introduced an exhaustive international legislation against
trafficking in human beings. Moreover, the Holy See notes with
satisfaction the coming into force, at the beginning of this month, of
the Council of Europe’s Convention against trafficking in human beings.

2. The
Holy See has been constantly aware of the seriousness of the crime of
trafficking in human beings. In 1970, Pope Paul VI established a
Pontifical Commission (now a Council) for the Pastoral Care of Migrants
and Itinerant People, which monitors also the issue of victims of human
trafficking, considered to be the slaves of modern times.

In this
perspective, the same Pontifical Council has organised two World
Congresses: the first, for the liberation of women of the street and the
second, for the children of the street. (See People on the Move
N. 102 Suppl. and N. 98 Suppl.). These Congresses resulted in the
publication of the Guidelines for the pastoral care of the
road-street (See People on the Move N. 104 Suppl., published
in six languages), which contain concrete suggestions, including many
actions that have already been accomplished to fight against trafficking
of human beings.

Because of
the presence of the Catholic Church at both universal and local levels,
the action of the aforementioned Pontifical Council consists especially
in encouraging the various Conferences of Bishops throughout the world
to fight against human trafficking with the participation of religious
women and men, lay people, various Catholic associations and movements,
etc.

Among
other things, the Holy See has stated that all efforts to tackle
criminal activities and to protect the victims of people involved in
trafficking should include “both men and women and place human rights
at the centre of all strategies”. The
demand side of sexual exploitation, “‘customers’ - ordinary men:
young men, husbands and fathers -, also needs to be addressed; this
requires a better knowledge of motives in order to address the reasons
why women are misused”. A similar attitude should be applied to
other forms of trafficking: for example, illicit forms of subcontracting
activities that profit from exploitative labour conditions.

At the
local level, these points have been taken up by a number of Bishops’
Conferences (e.g. Nigeria, Ireland, Spain), which have addressed them
through pastoral letters focusing on some specific local situations.
This has resulted in a direct involvement of Catholic organizations and
institutions in different countries in assisting the victims, which
includes listening to them, providing them with necessary assistance and
support to escape from sexual violence, creating safe houses, promoting
counseling geared towards re-integration into society or helping them to
return in a sustainable way to their homelands and sponsoring prevention
and awareness raising activities. In addition, in countries that have
faced violent conflicts (e.g. DRC, Sierra Leone, Liberia), the Catholic
Church has also reached out to former child soldiers, who are often
exposed to the risk of being sold once they leave the militia.
Activities are undertaken not only for their social and economic
integration, but also for healing their wounds and sustaining the
receiving family and/or community. This has become evident in quite a
number of initiatives undertaken by religious congregations.

3. We have
to admit that easy solutions do not exist. Addressing these particular
human rights’ abuses requires a coherent and integral approach. This
should take into account not only the best interests of the victim, but
also the just punishment of those who take advantage of it, and the
introduction of preventive measures such as, on the one hand, awareness
and consciousness raising and, on the other, addressing the root causes
of the phenomenon, among which the macroeconomic situation certainly
should not be overlooked.

Among
other things, a coherent and integral approach should also promote the
integration of the victims into society that receives them, especially
those who cooperate with the Authorities against the traffickers, which
includes medical care and psycho-social counselling, accommodation,
residence permits and access to employment. It also means their return
to the homeland, which may be accompanied by micro projects and/or
loans, thus ensuring that victims do not return to the same harmful
environment.

In
addition, measures could be introduced for the creation of compensation
schemes. These could be financed by the confiscation of the profits and
the assets gained by the traffickers through their criminal activities.

As Pope
Benedict XVI stated in his recent Encyclical on hope: “The true
measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to
suffering and to the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual
and for society” (Encyclical Letter Spe salvi, No. 38).